Farmfest 2010!

FARMFEST 2010

(Liz Rabbe, Erin Daninger, Justin Crowley, Jason Troendle, Maddie Collin, Kirsten Pagel)

WHOA! Farmfest started off with a bang of HEAT! On Tuesday August 3rd, the 6 Constitutional Officers were on their way to Morgan, MN to celebrate Farmfest. As we arrived to this huge agricultural gathering at 8 a.m., we realized it was already 90 degrees out! We were able to help the University of Minnesota out at their tent and were in charge of welcoming and mingling with the University's Alumni and the educational spin the wheel. People of all ages walked through the tent and learned more about agriculture through questions like what is the average age of a farmer today?

Throughout the day, the six of us rotated positions and two of us ventured off with Val Aarsvold to meet and thank our partners in the FFA. This had to be one of my highlights of Farmfest. I had such a fantastic time socializing with our partners like Dekalb, BASF, Minnesota Soybean Processors, and Farm Bureau.

We were also given free-time to explore Farmfest for an hour. When I ventured off with Justin we ran into some of the Fulda and Waseca FFA members. We were able to catch up on what was going on in their local chapters and how they were enjoying Farmfest. Thanks to Farm Bureau, all of us were able to enjoy outstanding pork chops on a stick! To conclude our first day at Farmfest we were invited to and Ag. Education Seminar and discussed the future of Agriculture Education.

Most of us ventured back to Region V President, Hillary's house to spend the night. Hillary took us out to a beautiful restaurant where the team bonded through hot wings and making pyramids with pop cans.

Jason, Liz, Maddie, Justin, Brittany, Hillary, and Kelsey came back to Farmfest for day two, which was considerably cooler, and waited in line for 45 minutes for a pancake breakfast sponsored by Farm Bureau. At 10:30, we all attended the governors debate which consisted of our recently elected governor candidates Emmer and Dayton. It was refreshing to hear first hand the views on agriculture the potential new Minnesota Governor held. After this, everyone went their separate ways and departed for home.

Farmfest 2010 was truly an educational experience for all of us. We were able to help educate the public about agriculture and educate ourselves about government issues and expand our knowledge about agriculture. Hope to see you all there next year! :-)

Stationed by the Emblem of Washington,

Maddie Collin